The Chairman of the Presidential Council, Fayaz Al-Sarraj, has stated that there was no date set to end the political agreement, stressing that handover of power can only be done through transparent and free elections. In a statement issued on Sunday, Al-Sarraj said that his government is continuing its regular work and will not be deterred from performing its duty towards the citizens. He called on all Libyans of all orientations to reconcile in order to achieve a national reconciliation. "Everyone should give the way for the Libyans to have their say through the ballot boxes, and not by leapfrogging over power and military action", he added, calling on everyone to step forward and take part in the elections, so to end the crises in the country.
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Power cuts engulfed the capital Tripoli on Sunday in conjunction with a cold snap that started Monday, as announced by the Meteorological Center. The outage went on for 5 to 6 hours alternating between different parts of the capital. The General Electricity Company attributed the outage to the severe shortage of natural gas supplies to the production plants in the western region. The company announced that outage hours are due to rise until fixing the technical glitch in the Millitah complex and all stations return to normal.
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The Department of Passports, Nationality and Foreign Affairs has signed a contract with an Austrian company for printing and supplying Libya with basic passport materials in accordance with the required international standards. The Authority explained via its website that the contract was signed on the basis of a decision by the Council of Ministers.
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The Chairman of the Presidential Council, Fayaz Al-Sarraj, returned Sunday to Tripoli after concluding his visit to Algeria. The visit included talks with the Algerian Prime Minister, Ahmed Ouyahia, over the political situation in Libya and a number of files of joint cooperation between the two countries. The press office of Al-Sarraj reported that he held a brief press conference before leaving Algeria, in which he stressed the convergence of views of the two countries on the issues at stake. This visit comes within the framework of a tour conducted by Al-Sarraj to a number of countries to discuss the latest developments in the Libyan scene.
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The foreign ministers of Tunisia, Algeria and Egypt have renewed their support for the political agreement as a framework for the political solution in Libya. The ministers affirmed in their final communiqué in Tunisia their rejection to any foreign intervention in Libya or any attempts to undermine the political process in the country. They also called on the Libyan people to end the transitional phase in a peaceful atmosphere by completing the constitutional entitlements and to create a better security and political environment, drawing attention to the worsening living conditions of the Libyans as a result of instability and prolongation in the political track.
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The High National Elections Commission (HNEC) has set early February 2018 as a date for Libyan residents abroad to register in the coming elections within a period not exceeding 30 days. On its official page on Sunday, the HNEC explained that the process has been newly developed, which requires all residents who had registered before in previous elections to renew their registration. The HNEC stated Monday that 17462 voters have been registered, including 11589 men and 5873 women, up until Sunday 17 of this month.
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Khalifa Haftar's Sunday speech has raised a lot of eyebrows, the latest was of the Nawasi Brigade of the Interior Ministry in Tripoli. Nawasi accused Haftar of calling for a coup against the democratic process in Libya, aimed at ending the peaceful transfer of power in the country. It confirmed in a statement on Sunday its rejection to his speech, pointing out that Haftar seeks to slide the country back into dictatorship and the one-man rule. It stressed that it will stand in line with all "decent and honourable" citizens of Libya in order to defend the homeland and citizens and to sustain a flexible transition to a state characterized by institutions and law.
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